The Master and Margarita, Chapter 22: By Candlelight quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How many Margaritas did Woland's retinue find in Moscow before choosing Margarita Nikolaevna?

   • Three hundred and two
   • Fifty-two
   • Correct answer: One hundred and twenty-one
   • Two hundred and seventy-seven

   Koroviev says they found one hundred and twenty-one Margaritas in Moscow and not one was suitable, which makes Margarita's selection seem fated.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Koroviev call the ball that Messire gives once a year?

   • The autumn ball of the seven candles
   • The winter ball of the black moon
   • The midsummer ball of the burning star
   • Correct answer: The spring ball of the full moon

   Koroviev names it the spring ball of the full moon, or the ball of the hundred kings.

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3. 3

   Question 3. How does Koroviev explain the enormous hall inside apartment No. 50?

   • Correct answer: Anyone who knows the fifth dimension can expand space
   • Woland quietly bought every apartment above and below
   • The hall is only an illusion made by the dim lamplight
   • Builders secretly joined the apartment to the next house

   Koroviev says that for someone well acquainted with the fifth dimension it costs nothing to expand space to any proportions.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How does Behemoth try to escape Woland's check in the chess game?

   • He hides Woland's own king inside the box of chessmen
   • Correct answer: His king flees the board and a bishop takes its place
   • He swaps two of Woland's black horsemen while no one is looking
   • He knocks the whole board over with a sweep of his tail

   While Koroviev and Azazello are out of the room, the white king throws off his mantle and runs away, and a bishop puts on the royal garb.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What does Woland suspect is the real cause of the pain in his knee?

   • An old wound from a duel he fought in sixteenth-century France
   • Correct answer: A souvenir left by a witch he knew on Mount Brocken in 1571
   • A fall he took at the Patriarch's Ponds while arguing with Ivan
   • A curse that Abaddon laid on him after a quarrel over a war

   His attendants call it rheumatism, but Woland suspects a charming witch he knew in 1571 on Mount Brocken left him the pain as a souvenir.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Why does Woland prefer his globe to listening to the radio?

   • Correct answer: It gives him the precise knowledge of events he needs
   • It lets him decide which side will win each war
   • It lets him hear the voices of every person on earth
   • It shows him exactly where the full moon will rise

   Woland complains that radio announcers mispronounce place names, while the globe gives him the precise knowledge of events he needs.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Where does Woland decide Nikolai Ivanovich, the hog, will stay during the ball?

   • In the Dorogomilovo cemetery with the rook and the car
   • On the third-floor landing beside the smoking watcher
   • Under Woland's bed with Behemoth's missing chess knight
   • Correct answer: With the cooks, since he cannot enter the ballroom

   Woland first says the hog goes to the cooks; when Margarita fears he will be slaughtered, Woland says he will simply stay with them, since he cannot enter the ballroom.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How does Margarita respond when Woland calls off his chess game because the guest has arrived?

   • She stays silent and lets Koroviev speak to Woland for her
   • She asks Woland to teach her how the living chessmen move
   • Correct answer: She begs him to go on, joking that chess journals would pay for it
   • She offers to take Behemoth's place and finish the game herself

   Prompted by Koroviev, she says 'By no means, Messire' and begs him not to interrupt the game, a witty, poised reply that earns Azazello's approval.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events happen on Margarita's way into the apartment and before she meets Woland?

   • Margarita and Azazello fly to Sadovaya Street on a broom and a rapier.

     Happened

     At the Dorogomilovo cemetery Azazello has Margarita get on the broom while he jumps on a long rapier, and they land near no. 302-bis on Sadovaya Street.

   • Azazello rings the bell of apartment No. 50, and Koroviev opens the door.

     Didn't happen

     No one rings: Azazello opens the door of apartment no. 50 noiselessly with his own key, and Koroviev meets them later with a little lamp on a landing.

   • A smoker on the third-floor landing jumps up when Margarita coughs.

     Happened

     The third watcher smokes strong cigarettes; when Margarita has a fit of coughing as she passes, he jumps up from his bench as if pricked with a pin.

   • Koroviev explains that the ball's hostess must be a foreigner.

     Didn't happen

     Koroviev says the hostess must be named Margarita and must be a native of the place, not a foreigner.

   • Margarita firmly agrees to serve as hostess of the ball.

     Happened

     Asked whether she will take the responsibility upon herself, Margarita replies firmly that she won't refuse.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events happen in Woland's candlelit bedroom?

    • Behemoth crawls under the bed after a dropped chess knight.

      Happened

      After bowing to Margarita, the cat drops the chess knight he was holding and crawls under the bed after it.

    • Woland has Hella pour Margarita a glass of wine before the ball.

      Didn't happen

      No one pours her wine: Woland instead tells her to drink nothing but water at the ball, or she will get groggy.

    • Margarita rubs the burning ointment into Woland's knee herself.

      Happened

      When Woland says his leg hurts, Margarita asks to help and, without wincing, rubs the liquid, hot as lava, into his knee.

    • Abaddon takes off his dark glasses at Margarita's request.

      Didn't happen

      Margarita asks, but Woland says it is impossible for Abaddon to take off his glasses, and with a wave of Woland's hand Abaddon is gone.

    • Woland allows Natasha to stay with her lady.

      Happened

      When Azazello reports a beauty pleading to stay with her lady, Woland says to let her stay; it is the hog who is sent to the cooks.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'perfidious' mean as used in: 'made all this out by the perfidious candlelight'?

    • Warm, gentle and deeply comforting
    • Bright enough to hurt the eyes
    • Dim and almost too faint to see by
    • Correct answer: Treacherous and not to be trusted

    Perfidious means treacherous; the narrator calls the candlelight untrustworthy as Margarita, sinking with fear, makes out the room.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'mountebank' mean as used in: 'like the crudest mountebank on a street corner'?

    • Correct answer: A swindler who tricks people with smooth talk
    • A beggar who sleeps in a doorway at night
    • A sweeper who cleans the streets at dawn
    • A soldier who guards the main city gate

    A mountebank is a trickster or showman; Woland uses the word for Behemoth, who tries to talk his way out of a losing chess game.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'impartiality' mean as used in: 'He is of a rare impartiality'?

    • Loyalty to one chosen side
    • Correct answer: Equal treatment of all sides
    • Skill at hiding his intentions
    • Great cruelty toward the weak

    Impartiality means favoring no side; Woland says Abaddon sympathizes equally with both sides, so the results are always the same for both.

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